Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2018

"Now who wants a fucking beer?"

Is precisely what you want to hear at your first Fringe show. 

Back in Edinbugh I meet up with an old friend and we go and watch 'The Thinking Drinkers', a sitting pub crawl hosted by two knowledgeable men, Ben McFarland and Tom Sandham.

The start of the show is a gloomy one.  They bring in a casket and announced that it could be soon the end of the pub.  3 pubs a day close down currently. They then transform the casket into a bar where they served themselves their drinks.

During the show the pair give you five drinks and talk about their history.  Drinks such as:
12th of Never Pale Ale,
Ketel One Vodka (a dutch Vodka rather than American one as they described Donald Trump to be a 'bell-end' 'total bell-end'),
Four Pillars Rare Dry Gin,
Jameson Irish Whiskey and
Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva Rum.

They go through each drink describing what you should taste and talk about how they originated.  A fascinating look at the circumstances of how each drink was brought about.  Vodka came from the saloons of the wild west, and Gin Palaces were created to make the Victorian scourge of drinking gin (a problem that was bringing Britain to it's knees) more socially acceptable and comfortable.

Two things that I learned which I can still remember are 1) the oldest building found in the world was a pub, and 2) cans are better than bottles for storing beer as the glass of the bottle lets the light in which affects the beer.  Pubs are also places of revolution and dissent from all authorities.

It was entertaining and informative ('You're laughing and learning, you lucky fuckers!'), as well as drinking actual, well chosen, booze alongside them.  This was an absolute delight to be a part of making me wanting to sign their petition to save the local boozer, which can be found at www.longlivethelocal.pub.

Next we go to the late night showing for my friend Adam Elliot's show 'House on Haunted Hill'.  We were given ping pong balls at the start, which were mercilessly thrown at the performers throughout the show despite only needing to be used for one specific scene.   The cast treats us to a horror story based on the B-movie starring Vincent Price.

Of course this is the Lampoons, previously in 'Attack of the Giant Leeches', who have a particularly mad-cap and downright bizarre way of getting humour out of their source material.  The four actors  make up the show with energetic slapstick and silliness give you a frenzy of jokes as they tell the story of the unsuspecting guests at the haunted house.  Pure madness with some excellent set pieces, verve and determined to keep you laughing.

The next day I watched Mark Grist's 'King of Poetry', a children's show about what it would be like if he was crowned poetry King.  It has a great concept and the show had some lovely poems that involved the audience.  Mark had a gentle, warm presence, which became colder and meaner as he got more entitled as his character of the poetry King.  Seeing the younger members of the audience join in with enthusiasm was a delight to witness.

In the late afternoon I then go to see one of my favourite poetry performers Luke Wright (who has appeared on this blog before: http://poetrykindness.blogspot.com/2018/02/the-toll-by-luke-wright.html).  His show was about being Poet Laureate, as Carol Ann Duffy is set to step down from the role next year.   On a smaller stage then what I'm used to see him he delivered an energetic, witty commentary in his journalistic poems  about Britain and it's state. 

He wonders if there should be such a thing as a 'poet laureateship'  as it reflects the power structure in royalty.  This is also a homage to his younger self as 'Poet Laureate' was the title of his first Edinburgh show, which is good to see as he has stuck with this particular art form and become something of a minor master of it.

Phil Jupitus, from the TV quiz show 'Never Mind the Buzzcocks', does poetry, did you know? 

"35 years in the business and not a hint of a publisher.  That's the quality of what you are about to hear"

As Porky the Poet he regales stories of the music business to an audience seated in small room in The Voodoo Rooms.  His all embracing showmanship displays a flair for showing off and an enjoyment of making people laugh.  The poems about the band Madness and his first gig were very well constructed and  very funny, but just his presence  alone was intoxicating enough. 

As he took donations  with a bucket I told him how it's great that he does poetry.  And he replied, for some reason,with "Never give up", which is exactly what you want to hear in your last show in Edinburgh.

It's great to see all manner of art alive and well in Scotland and to see performers in every stage of their careers.  I go up every year and hope to do so next year.  See you there?